Dear Thomas – Part II

A fictional letter to the late Thomas Moore of Maberly from his 3 x Great-Granddaughter, Krista Moore…..

Do you remember the Deacons?  Do you remember old Ephriam and Ellen? And the Deacon farm? Did you visit often?  Did you two ever have a match of wits, and who decided to accept the role of Reeve first?  Was it you?

The Deacon Farm, Bolingbroke 2011

You were likely a fairly ambitious young man.  I  noticed you were a councillor very early on, and you took the charge as a young magistrate as well, and you, along with the other pioneering churchmen, fought for the little church on your father William Moore and later Robert Hughe’s land. I’m not sure what the picture was like at the time, or who was fighting for whom, but your name was on everything! So I can only assume it was very important to you.

Petition to save Wesleyan Methodist church, Thomas Moore Esq. et al. circa the 1850s, Maberly, South Sherbrooke

What was that first little Wesleyan Methodist church like? Do you remember it now? Could you describe it to me?   If you were here, or I could hear you, I could imagine you saying it was quite dim inside, the logs were quite heavy and dark, and the place was quite stark. It was good enough for the purpose it served at the time. Certainly not an elaborate testament to God or King.  But, it would do for a little chapel in the woods.  I wonder who attended, and what they wore, I wonder who descended upon it, and the little wagons pulling up or going through the lane-way on your father’s land. Maybe it was different then and the church wasn’t where I imagined it at all. Perhaps I got it all wrong.

What a log cabin church might have looked like in 1840s Ontario.

You see, we only have an 1880 map of the area, and the roads have changed since then. I’m sure if you stood where your house was now, you would be quite alarmed to see a paved road running through, and a big white house standing where your father’s log cabin used to be. Or perhaps you would be standing in a thicket and nothing would be there. Or, perhaps, you would stumble down the lane-way, the very stony lane-way I saw on your father William’s land, where I could see his wagon and horses coming through, to the open patch of land where I imagined his crops were, or his cows grazing, or oxen pulling and tilling the hard earth…

The new lane-way up to the old William Moore farm, Maberly, 2011, Conc 10, Lot 14

Maberly has changed quite a bit since you first lived there.  But I imagine your face would light up to see some of the buildings and houses still in place, like the old general store, now boarded up, but the backroom still open and the old shelves still there and the same old door.  The river Tay runs behind it, and where once was an old mill I believe. I can’t remember if we had a hand in that at all, or just the Deacons, and the Morrows. You tell me!  I imagine though, you had to do something with all that wood you cut down on your properties. I feel so ignorant as to your lifestyle and what it meant to live at that time. What you men went through, clearing your land and building structures that were liveable enough for your ever-widening brood.

End of Part II

Continued in Part III

The Moores of Lanark County

Lawrence E. Moore, son of Thomas Moore, Lanark county

Although I was using this blog to relate to non-related topics (ie., genealogy and life,  not specific strands of the family), I decided it was time to use this device to publish what I am doing and investigating, and thereby help others in the same quest.  If you should happen to have information of interest, please send in your comments with your email address.

I am investigating William Moore b. abt. 1800 in Ireland (likely Down), living in South Sherbrooke, Lanark County South, Ontario, Canada from about 1829-1851.  He appears on the 1842 census for Lanark County with his wife Winnifred (Stephens) and children, but no more.

His son, Thomas Moore, Esq. of South Sherbrooke, was the Reeve of that county and of Oso/Frontenac for many years in the 1860s and 70s.  He was born abt. 1829 in Ireland.  He married Margaret Chambers, also of Ireland.  She was born in Ballydugan, Warringstown, Down, daughter of Moses Chambers and Sarah Harrison.  Both Moses and Sarah lived in South Sherbrooke with them, along with his mother from Ireland, Susanah.  I am sorry I cannot go into infinite details here, for it would take me eons – if you are interested, please write to me.

Another Thomas Moore, a Dr. of Picton, is also a possible nearby relative of this family, and is famous for having punched Sir John A MacDonald in the nose, and for being fined 6 shillings to settle the matter.  He served Picton for many years and was also very prominent in that town.  His daughter, Catherine Anne Moore, had dealings with the Moores and other families in South Sherbrooke, and appears on many land registry files.  She purchased land from our Thomas Moore of South Sherbrooke when he was liquidating some of his assets in 1877.  Our hypothesis is that she is a cousin of Thomas, and their fathers were brothers:  Dr. Thomas Moore of Picton and William Moore of South Sherbrooke.  Dr. Thomas Moore was born in Dundonald, Down, Ireland in 1796 as per his death record.

At the moment I am investigating the following associate names:  GARRETT, BUCHANAN, NORRIS, KORRY, MORROW, CHAMBERS, HUGHES.  I would like to surmise the migration pattern of these families from Ireland to South Sherbrooke/Bathurst/Lanark County South, Ontario in the 1820s-1840s.

In particular, if anyone has any  information on Thomas Hughes and Robert Hughes who purchased land and lived in South Sherbrooke, Iwould like to be in touch with you.  Robert Hughes married Letitia Chambers, a sister to Margaret Chambers above, and lived on the same land as our Moores in South Sherbrooke. I believe the families were very close, and wonder if they happened to migrate in a pattern from Ireland around 1827-1829. I have Township Papers with their signatures from the Archives of Ontario.

More “Moore” to come.